Should I mention it?

So, I'll just come out and say it- I was born with a unilateral cleft lip. I was fortunate to only have one corrective surgery as a baby (and a nose job/ lip repair two months ago). I don't have any speech impediments (unless you include talking too fast and mixing up proverbs) and I am incredibly confident in general.

Now, when my kids are getting to know me within the first few days, should I mention this? Not that specific paragraph, but the fact I had a cleft lip..The whole reason I started to think about this was a post about the 1st day of school and the T/F quiz EngTeacher15 has for her students to get to know her. I thought that would be a good opportunity to bring it up.

Pros:
-The students don't have to wonder what my scar is all about
-Having it out in the open makes it less of an issue because the kids know it doesn't bother me so there is no point is point it out.
-By doing so, any other kids with a defect (or the same defect) might feel at ease

Cons:
- It does bring it to their attention which could be bad
- Is it really that important? I mean, it is a huge part of who I am about, but I could just be over analyzing
- Instead of coming across confident, I could come across the opposite

 

You're teaching bio. I think I would wait until something close comes up in the syllabus. Or mention it the first day as you talk about an overview of the course, as one of the things you'll be getting to later in the year.

 

i think if they ask then you should tell them. I have a disability myself since birth and I wasn't going to mention it until one of the students asked and then I told them. It was good because then there would be no rumor as to what happened to me. They got the truth from me. After I told them what happened then they were like oh ok and we moved on.

 

I would wait and let it come up naturally in class discussions. I have a pacemaker (I'm only 37--got it when I was 34), and I don't hide it from them, but I wait until something is mentioned that opens the door for me to discuss it.

 

Thanks for the input! I think I'm making it a bigger deal than it actually is and I should mention it when the time is right (or related to the subject matter).